


Different

by Emachinescat



Series: Sesquipedalian [14]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-11
Updated: 2011-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-14 05:59:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1255465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emachinescat/pseuds/Emachinescat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>abnormous, adj.<br/>(ab-NOR-muss)<br/>Not normal; irregular</p><p>Little Merlin's mother talks to him, trying to explain to her young son that he is different and special.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Different

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own; for entertainment purposes only.
> 
> Enjoy. :)

"It's not fair."

Hunith sighed as her eight-year-old son sat at their crudely crafted table, arms crossed over his thin chest, glaring balefully at his soup. Honestly, why the child was taking his frustration out on the stew was beyond his beyond-stressed mother – true, crops hadn't been as productive this year and it was a bit thinner than Merlin was used to, but it was nothing to scowl about. She sighed, knowing that her son's irritation was not at his food but at something else entirely.

She sat down across from him, eyes slightly misted as she watched her boy slowly swill his soup around with a spoon. "Eat, Merlin. I won't have you fading away over the winter." As her child began to pick at the food, she asked the question that she already knew the answer to. "What's not fair?"

"That I have magic and no one else does." He sighed mournfully. "I always have to be careful what I say, even to Will, and everyone thinks I'm weird anyway. I'm a monster."

Hunith snapped to attention, eyes roving her son's pale, thin face with a messy shag of black hair hanging around it and dangling just above his ocean eyes. Her voice intense, tears already forming in her own eyes, his mother snapped, " _No, Merlin._  Don't you say that. Don't you  _ever_  say that."

Merlin looked down at his bowl, anywhere but his mum's eyes. It was so hard for the boy to tell her how he was feeling. He was so scared, scared of what he could do, of what he might do, afraid he'd accidentally tell Will when they were pretending to be knights or when Will decided to play a game where their deepest secrets were revealed. He was scared of who he was. The feeling had increased dramatically over the past few years; when he had first been old enough to understand what it meant to have magic and began to exercise a bit of control over it (although not much), he had thought it was the most exciting thing ever.

He had been warned over and over again that he couldn't tell anyone, not even his closest friends, about his magic, though, because it could be dangerous for all of them. At first the idea of having a juicy secret just between he and his mother had been terribly exciting for the four-year-old. After a year or so, though, as he grew older and closer to Will, the splendor of such a secret began to morph into a burden as he couldn't tell anyone except his mother about the most important secret in his life. The enthusiasm of being the only one in Ealdor with magic had long since faded into a kind of seclusion. He was close to no one except Will, and even with his best friend he had put up a wall. He was afraid to let anyone in and had decided that it was because he was so different.

A freak.

"It's 'kay, Mum," Merlin tried to reassure her, not wanting to see his mother upset. She had a hard enough time as it was; even at his tender age Merlin could see that. He hated seeing people suffer and he knew that suffering didn't always mean physical pain – but when your feelings hurt, too.

"Merlin," Hunith said earnestly as she took her child's small, smooth hands in her own calloused ones and looked him straight in the eyes. Those intense, azure eyes that could change to a pure, liquid gold in a beat of a heart. She had to make him understand, make him see that what he possessed was not a curse, but a gift. He was right to be wary of his talents, but to  _fear_ them? That could only lead to bitter consequences. "You have  _nothing_ to be ashamed of."

The child's eyes filled with involuntary tears. "Then how come I have to hide from everyone? If I'm so special, why do I have to pretend I'm the same as everyone else?"

"To protect you!" his mother insisted fervently. "To keep you safe – these are dangerous times, Merlin!"

"It's dangerous 'cuz everyone wants to hurt people with magic!" Merlin countered. "People hate it and I can't tell because then they'd hate me."

"Merlin, being special is  _nothing_  to be ashamed of!" Her eyes were dreamy as she gazed at her boy, her special,  _special_  boy. "You have so much potential, so much power, but that's not even why you are so special – it's because of your heart, your kindness, your compassion… and that, with your gifts, makes you the most extraordinary person I know."

Merlin's eyes were shining with a mixture of tears and hope as he replied, "I… am?"

Hunith smiled. "The reason why magic is feared is because people do not understand it. Some have used it for very bad things, Merlin. But you haven't, and I know one day you will get the chance to prove to the world that magic can be wielded by the gentlest of souls." Her reassuring smile grew a bit watery. "You have a great destiny ahead of you, my boy."

Cerulean eyes gazed up in wonder at the woman he wanted to be like someday (except without the "woman" part, of course, as he'd say whenever he told his mum he wanted to be just like her). "What is it?" He was breathless with anticipation.

Laughing softly, Hunith tapped his little nose with her pointer finger and he scrunched it up automatically at the touch. "I don't know. But I do know it's going to be bigger, and better, and different than any other destiny out there."

"How can you know?"

"Because," Hunith answered as she got up and crossed to Merlin's side of the table, enveloping her "baby" in the warm embrace only a mother can give, "I know  _you_."

Merlin's eyes were wide and he grinned. "So… what you're saying is that I can't tell anyone 'cuz then they'd be jealous of how awesome I am?"

Hunith laughed out loud at her son's interpretation of her deep, wisdom filed words and kissed the top of his head. "I'm saying that being different, that not being normal, is the greatest gift a person could have. You have _nothing_  to be ashamed of."

Growing serious once more, the young wizard asked, "And I won't have to hide forever?"

"No," Hunith replied and somehow she knew that this would be true. Someday, Merlin would be revered for who he was, what he would be. What he could be.

She was lost in thought and was caught off-guard when two skinny arms wrapped around her neck and a soft voice whispered in her ear, "Love you, mum."

Smiling contentedly, Hunith returned the embrace. All of the stress, the worry, the heartache, the uncertainty of raising a young warlock by herself in such dangerous times… All of it was worth it at times like these.

Breathing in the fresh, outdoorsy scent of the boy she was so proud of, she murmured into his raven hair, "I love you too, son."


End file.
